Seat upholstery unit and method of making the same



May 3, 1938. M. DARLINGTON 2,116,102

SEAT UPHOLSTERY UNIT AND METHQD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Dec. 28,1935 2 sheets-sheet 2 @MM/M4 ATTCRNEY Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES PATE OFFECE SEAT 'UPHOLSTERY UNIT AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME Application December 28, 1935, Serial No. 56,411

3 Claims.

This invention refers to seat upholstery in general but in particular to an upholstery unit and the method of making the vsame especially adapted for use on the light weight or airplane f type of seat.

'I'he seat frame with which the upholstery unit is intended to be used is of the so-called aeroplane type having a frame with a top part or curved bar over which, a pocket at the top of the unit is il) adapted to be hung and having a cross bar at the front edge of the seat to which is attached the lower part of the unit. Thus the upholstery unit is detachably supported at its extremities by the frame and acts as a free suspension unit in sup- 1-.3 porting the seat occupant substantially as is shown in Patent 1,815,836. The upholstery units as previously made for this type of seat have always had a large amount of stitching visible which not only detracted greatly from the appearance of the seat, but was liable to rip or unravel. It is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide an upholstery unit wherein all stitching is invisible. l

A further object of the invention is the pro- ;5 vision of a new and improved upholstery unit having a supporting pocket at the upper portion. A

A yet further object of the invention is the provision of an upholstery unit having a supporting pocket at the upper portion and wherein the stitching for some distance. inward of the pocket opening is concealed.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved method of constructing an upholstery unit having the stitching concealed and protected.

These and other objects will be apparent to one skilled in the art after a study of the following description and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view showing the unit in the iirst stage of construction;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the second stage of the construction;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of the upper portion of the unit and showing the third stage of construction;

Fig. 5 is a view of the upper portion of the unit and showing the fourth stage of construction with the stitching completed;

Fig. 6 is a view showing the upper portion of the unit in the fifth stage of construction, the

lower portion having been turned inside out:

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional View taken on line 8--8 of Fig. 6 and is a View similar to Fig. 3 but showing this portion of the unit in its final position; 5

Fig. 9 is a side view of the upper portion of the unit as in Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. l0 is a-view of the sixth stage in the construction showing the pocket turned and'the unit 10 ready for the application of the pillow or headrest;

Fig. 1l is a section on line II-II of Fig. l0; Fig. 12 is a view showing the back of the unit in Fig. 10,' and l5 Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing a modification of the construction adjacent the pocket.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and iirst to Figure l, it will be seen that the unit is o formed of a strip 2 of canvas or other strong material out to the proper shape and upon which is laid a suitably cut strip li of velour or other desired material with the finished side or nap 6 uppermost. A flap or bib piece formed of pantasote. 8 is cut with a projecting tab ID and the bib is backed up by a canvas portion Il sef cured in place by folding the pantasote over the canvas and stitching the same as at I2. The canvas backing has secured to it prior to this stitch. 30 ing the reenforcing web strips i3 and an identi cation plate i4 thus preventing any unnecessary stitching through the pantasote.

This bib piece is next laid with the pantasote uppermost and the tab overlapping the velour 35 and a binding strip i6 of pantasote having the bead i8 innermost is placed upon the velour and over the tab and the whole stitched together as at 2li. Webbing strips 22 are sewed to the face of the velour for a purpose to be later described. 40

Next a strip of pantasote 24 is laid face downward upon the unit as shown in Figure 1 and stitched as at 5.96 to form the unit as shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that the stitching goes only to the bend 2l leaving the upper portion Z8 i5 free to be folded back allowing the Ybilo to be folded over upon the velour as shown in Fig. 4. The reenforcing webbing strips` I3 are folded inward and the upper portion 28 of the pantasote folded over upon the bib and the entire upper portion 50 stitched as at 3u (Fig. 5) thus forming a pocket at the upper portion of the unit having its mouth covered by the portion 28. The unit is now in condition to be partly turned and the lower portion is brought up through the unstitched open- 55 ing.32 which will bring the unit to the position shown in Fig. 6 with the pocket still unturned but with the mouth thereof uncovered. It is thus seen that the lower portion of the unit is turned about a point which is above the pocket opening or mouth and that the portion 28 of the pantasote is thus turned over and protects the stitching, while the reenforcing strips I3 have one end free which end is now bent around the edge of the unit and secured'to the upper portion 28 of the pantasote strip 24 by stitches 34 extending through the canvas 2 and the velour.

The pocket is now turned inside out by pushing the top of the pocket through the pocket opening which will place the unit in the condition as shown in Figs. 10 and 12. In this condition the bead I8 is outward and all stitching along the sides is fully concealed and protected from wear and also the stitching at the lower inner portion of the pocket is concealed and protected as is evident from Fig. 11. The tab I0 is now outward and together with the webbing strips 22 form means to which a suitable pillow (not shown) may be secured, the pillow thus completely concealing all previously visible front stitching. The only stitching visible from the back is that indicated at l2 which binds the ledge of the flap or bib.

The unit is now complete and ready for attachment to the seat frame previously described by simply attaching the projecting canvas 2 to the cross bar and hooking the pocket over the upper part of the frame. To remove the unit from the seat frame it is only necessary to lift the pocket 01T the top bar and unhook the lower portion or projecting canvas 2 from the front cross bar.

Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. 13 the unit is made the same as that previously described up tothe form as shown in Fig. 2 but from this point on the method varies slightly. The lower portion of the unit is brought up through the opening and the tube turned inside out by revolving about a line through the upper ends of the stitching which line is substantially in line with the pocket opening. The bib is then brought down upon the velour face and sewed thereto with the stitches also passing through the upper part 28 of the pantasote. This places the unit in the condition shown in Fig. 13 which leaves a raw edge 36 entirely around the pocket, then the reenforcing tabs are bent around the edge and sewed in place. The pocket may now be turned inside out by rotation about the pocket opening thus bringing the unit to its final or finished condition which from all outward appearances is identical with that of the unit previously described, but the inside of the pocket differs in that the lower portion of the seam within the pocket is not protected other than by the reenforcing tabs i3. Whereas in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 12 inclusive the lower portion of the seam within the pocket is protected by the turned over portion of 28 as clearly shown by Figs. 6, 9 and 11.

In the rst form it is seen that a tube is formed having a pocket at the upper portion with the pocket mouth inside of the tube and that the tube is turned inside out rotating about the top edge which is substantially above the pocket mouth thus protecting at least a portion of the seam above the pocket mouth as is clearly shown by Figs. 6, 9 and 11. After the tube has been turned then the pocket is turned inside out to complete the unit wherein the tube is capped by a pocket and all exterior or boundary stitching is concealed as well as a portion of the stitching within the pocket at its lower or open edge.

In the second form a tube is partially formed and turned inside out after which a pocket is formed which when turned inside out will cap the tube thus presenting a finished product having all boundary stitching concealed but with the stitching within the pocket unprotected other than by the reenforcing tabs I3.

The material Pantasote throughout the preceding description is a form of artificial leather manufactured by the Pantasote Company, Incorporated of New York city and is used purely as Vrepresentative of the various manufactured or natural materials such as leather that may be used. Also throughout the description various materials have been referred to by name but it is obvious that these materials may be varied at will without departing from the scope of the invention as dened in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of forming an upholstery unit having protected seams which consists in providing an elongated strip of fabric material having an enlarged end portion and a finished surface, providing a fabric bib formed with a projection and a marginal edge portion of the same general contour as the upper end of said strip, arranging said bib adjacent to and in longitudinal alinement with said strip with the projection overlying the latter, placing a binding tape upon and along the longitudinal edges of said strip and overlapping the bib projection, stitching said binding throughout its length to said strip and Said projection, folding said bib over the upper end of said strip with the conforming edges in alinement, placing a shorter strip of material with its nished face down upon said binding and arranging same intermediate the ends of said first strip with its upper end and the adjacent end of said bib overlapping, securing said bib and second strip to said binding and first-mentioned strip along their upper and side edges thus forming an elongated tube and connected cap portion defined by a transverse opening, and reversing the tube and cap portion from its opposite ends and through said transverse opening.

2. The method of forming an upholstery unit having protected seams which consists in providing an elongated strip of fabric material havy ing an enlarged end portion and a finished surface, providing a fabric bib formed with a projection and a marginal edge portion of the same general contour as the upper end of said strip, arranging said bib adjacent to and in longitudinal alinement with said strip with the projection overlying the latter, placing a binding tape upon and along the longitudinalV edges of said strip and overlapping the bib projection, stitching said binding throughout its length to said strip and said projection, placing a shorter strip of material with its finished face turned down upon said binding and intermediate the ends of said flrst strip, sewing said second strip along its marginal edges and through the binding and rst strip to a point approximating the enlarged upper end, thereby forming a tubular body with upper and lower flaps, reversing said tubular body through its upper end, folding the bib over the upper end of the first strip and overlapping the upper flap of the second strip, sewing said bib along its upper and side edges to both strips, and reversing said bib structure.

3. The method of forming an upholstery unit named strip, folding said bib over upon said bind" ing and betweenthe binding and the unsecured portion of said second strip, securing said bib and the unsecured portion of said second strip to said binding and rst named strip to form a pocket and open ended tube, turning said tube and pocket inside out whereby the bead and the faces of the strips and bib are placed on the outside of the unit.

MAY E. DARLINGTON. 

